Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Cat Lord (4)
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-Flash!
-Rumble!
Fierce winds whipped around wildly as thunder and lightning shook the entire sky. Rausian would appear soon. But the giant kittens didn’t seem to care about the goddess at all. To them, her terrifying lightning felt like mere static electricity—their fur just puffed up even fluffier, and nothing else happened.
-Meow.
-Nya.
-Nyaong.
The nine enormous—no, insanely enormous—kittens buried their noses into plates that were tiny compared to their size and began lapping up my homemade churu. Lap, lap, lap, lap. Leisurely as could be, the kittens savored the deep flavor of the homemade churu. Even after devouring it all, they diligently licked the now-empty plates clean.
Taking advantage of the moment, Kali, Jeomsun, and I darted through the fluffy hammer-like paws of the giant kittens, searching for Rausian’s quill pen. We rummaged through the fluffy fur and squishy jelly-like padding, but we couldn’t find Rausian’s quill pen. It was only natural. The kittens were excessively huge, excessively fluffy, and excessively chaotic. Every time one of them swished its tail, I seriously feared getting smacked by that fluffy tail and meeting my end.
“Damn it, which one of these has Rausian’s quill pen!”
I couldn’t hold back anymore and yelled as I madly dug through the lush, soft fur. At this rate, we were all going to die! In fact, the thunder and lightning were drawing closer, and cracks were visibly splitting the sky as harbingers of the descent.
-Rumble...
-Groooar...
With ominous noises, divine light began pouring from the cracks in the sky. The light sliced through the chaotic darkness, carving out a sort of ‘path’.
-Flash!
-Ruuuumble...!
If this were a movie, massive drumbeats and majestic music would be swelling right now. That’s how grave the atmosphere was. Kali gazed at the pouring light, then shouted toward me.
-We’ll hold this place somehow, you keep searching for the goddess’s quill pen!
“...Damn it, got it!”
I plunged back into the masses of giant furballs.
-Crackle!
-Zzt zzt zzt!
Something ominous crackled overhead. Glancing up, I vaguely saw Kali and Jeomsun struggling against lightning whipping like a lash.
How long could those two hold out against a goddess?
‘...Not long.’
I frantically pushed through the kittens, searching for the quill pen. Just as I wondered if I’d suffocate to death in these furballs—that’s when!
“That’s...!”
I spotted the ninth kitten’s paw pad glimmering faintly like starlight.
‘...Ink from the goddess’s quill pen!’
I scrambled onto the ninth kitten’s back. Gripping the fur of the tri-colored cat—white, yellow, and black mixed vibrantly—I clambered up toward its head.
-KABOOOM!!!!!!!
A colossal roar exploded, and blinding white light flashed before my eyes. I turned toward where Kali and Jeomsun had been. They lay collapsed on the ground, fur slightly singed from the lightning strike.
-Meow!
-Nyaa!
-Nyaaooong!
Even the kittens couldn’t help but be startled by the thunderclap. As if it were the goddess’s final warning, the kittens that had been licking plates puffed up their fur in surprise.
The rift in the sky had grown even larger, and something shining was bursting through toward us. I realized it was a massive ‘hand’. The goddess’s hand.
The goddess’s hand seemed poised to grab a giant kitten. But in this chaotic space, the kitten’s forepaw was far quicker. The one nearly caught slashed at the back of the goddess’s hand with its plump paw. Thunder like a scream echoed once, and the kittens began fleeing from the goddess’s hand.
I clung desperately to the fluffy fur with all my might to avoid falling off the kitten’s back as it dashed through the chaos. Hanging onto a running kitten felt like lying on a bucking bed—comfortable yet insanely exhausting.
How much time passed like that? As the shaking chaotic landscape sped by and the kittens finally stopped, the sight before me was utterly unexpected.
“...Huff, haaah. Huff.”
Sliding down from the kitten’s back, I caught my breath and looked around.
The edge of chaos, where distinctions between all things lost meaning. Here, dust-like remnants from the nine worlds gathered and clumped, forming pits or nests.
...So this was their kind of drug den cushion space?
The kittens settled into spots and began grooming their fur. Geez. We’d just barely escaped the goddess’s grasp, and they were this nonchalant? Well, that was cat-like...
While they groomed, I started searching their ‘drug den cushions’. It was packed with all sorts of ‘toys’. The problem? These weren’t ordinary toys. Of course, kittens that treated a goddess’s quill pen as a toy wouldn’t have normal ones.
From clumps of dark dust to gods’ belongings and legendary relics from ancient myths—there was a wild variety. A ball of Nemeia’s thread, Yao’s scales, Cerberus’s tail fur...
Talk about bold. How the hell did they collect all this?
‘...Rausian’s quill pen has to be here somewhere.’
Tempting treasures made my head spin, but strictly speaking, these were all ‘stolen goods’. I couldn’t risk taking any and getting branded a thief. I had to find Rausian’s quill pen and return it properly...
“...!”
Deep in the pile, a familiar glimmer caught my eye. It matched the starlight sparkle on the kitten’s paw pad.
‘That’s it!’
Pushing aside dust clumps and random junk, sure enough, a quill pen longer than a person’s arm emerged, wrapped in iridescent light. The starlight embedded in each feather was breathtakingly beautiful—worthy of a goddess’s cherish.
“Finally...!”
I grabbed the quill pen.
-Smack!
No, I tried to.
“What the—?”
As much as I hated to admit it, the fluffy paw was faster than my hand. Looking up, the tri-colored kitten I’d ridden here was pinning Rausian’s quill pen with its forepaw, staring right down at me.
“Hey... hey, kitty.”
-Nya.
“Give it here. That’s not yours.”
-Nyaah.
“We have to return it to avoid the goddess’s wrath.”
The cat stared at me like ‘And what’s that got to do with me?’ Damn it. Cats are selfish, and kittens even more so! As I reached out to snatch it, it flashed sharp claws.
“...”
What now?
Outside, maybe, but in this chaotic realm, I had no way to beat a kitten.
It had lost interest in the quill pen but didn’t want to let it go easily. I racked my brain. If there was something to replace it...
“...Right.”
A sudden memory from childhood hit me. I used to play with Jeomsun using ‘that’.
“Alright, kitty. How about a trade?”
-Nyaah?
“I’ll give you something way cooler than that.”
The other kittens had gathered around, sitting and peering down at me. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and focused my mind.
-Shimmer...
A hazy glow appeared.
‘Dimensional Garden.’
That’s right.
The Dimensional Garden was another space separate from reality. It seemed I could access it even here in the chaos. Reaching into the glow, the space parted, revealing the Dimensional Garden beyond. Phew scampered over in surprise from tending the garden.
‘...Perfect. This’ll do.’
I could enter the Dimensional Garden, but that might prevent returning to this chaos. So, I’d keep the connection open and grab ‘that’. I whispered briefly to the nearest Phew, and they bustled into action.
“It’s hard to keep concentrating... Please hurry.”
-Phew!
-Phew phew!
How much time passed? Fortunately, before the kittens lost interest, the Phews finished. I took the seed pouch they handed me, then closed the Dimensional Garden. Even that short time drained considerable mana—I felt dizzy—but no time to rest leisurely.
I slipped out from the kittens, poured the pouch’s contents onto my palm, and blew on the seeds, smaller than grains of sand and looking like mere black dust...
-Whoosh...!
The seeds scattered wildly. Winds here didn’t blow one way, so the swirling, whipping seeds spread everywhere, taking root.
Roots burrowed into voids between dust clumps, and soon long stems rose. At their tips...
-Nya~!
-Nyaaoong!
Plump, fluffy, enticing green furballs—no, flowers—like cat tails bloomed. The kittens couldn’t tear their eyes away.
Catnip, that is.
The Phews’ improved version was bigger, fuller, swaying irregularly in the erratic winds—enough to captivate the kittens. They batted at the shaking catnip with their paws, and soon Rausian’s quill pen was forgotten.
“Finally!”
I snatched the quill pen, pathetically abandoned in a corner.
‘Now, just get back and...!’
That’s when.
-Rumble...
「The foolish ones...」
-Groooar...
「Dare to defy...」
-Flash!